In this episode I take you behind the scenes what happened in my world this week as I got back to work. I was distracted by comparison and different expectations and had to reset and refocus on who my customer really is - NOT who others say my customer is. Who I am CALLED to serve. If my measure of success is a metric that God has not given me I will live my life toward "never-enough" and vanity. Thankfully it only took me three days to recenter (this time)! Here's my process...
Monday and Tuesday were not good days! I was all over the place mentally and emotionally as I went from vacation mode to production mode in 30 seconds! Problem was, I didn't FIRST get my aim or direction in place. I was like I just started the car and went from 0-60mph in 30seconds without first deciding what direction I was going. That is a recipe for a lot of activity with not much productivity!
Then I became very aware of some friends who are excelling in their performance - the numbers are incredible... and I now felt like I was failing as well as flailing!
Then Wednesday I woke and my wife had a word from God for me: "Reset." And I read that morning in Matthew 6 how just taught us to pray (TPT): "Let the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn."
I realized I had got off center by feeling out of control in work and in comparison with others.
So what did I do to get back on track?
1. Recenter
Let the goodness of God be the center on which my life turns.
Pause and connect with your creator. He designed you to be you, not a version or copy of someone else.
If I am centered on anything other than God (church, a person, an organization...) I will find myself swinging all over the place.
I know I am off center when I am swinging all over the place: anxious, pulled in different directions, having difficulty making decisions, running from task to task, no peace...
How do you recenter?
I took time to worship and express gratitude for last year and where we are at right now and the upcoming year. I thanked Him for who He made me to be. I thanked Him that all things are in His hand and my future is in His hand. He is leading and guiding me into fullness of joy and life.
I spent time in scripture because that is where He speaks continually. AND it is a solid foundation on which I can rest. It is black and white, not some version of uncertain grey.
2. Reset
Now that you have re-centered, and only now, can you reset what your priorities are.
Start with a blank page or whiteboard or document. Rely on what is INSIDE you rather than what is outside wanting to pull you in some other direction. Live from an internal government and you won't need external rules to tell you what is right or wrong. Live from conviction, from conscience, from your spirit.
I grabbed my team and a blank whiteboard and asked them who our customer is. Who are the people whose story is what we want repeated? Who has been a customer of ours and their life transformation or experience has best articulated what we exist to do?
We filled up the board surprisingly quick. What was immediately noticeable was that all the uncertain activity I had focused on at the start of the week (when I was off-center) involved NONE of this group of people. Hmmmm...
We then looked for themes or repeating attributes of those people. Who were they? How did they first engage with us? What were the outcomes of their engagement with us? What is the ongoing results?
Then summarize what you identified. This is who you are called to.
3. Refocus
Take everything you are doing and bring it back into alignment with who/what you are called to.
Rather than just running up facebook ads or running after certain targets, ASK yourself if that is moving you towards your target?
This process we are still on but it is releasing peace, bringing clarity and feels WAY better!
May you do the same!
If this has been helpful for you, please post a comment or share or find out more about us at AndyandJanine.com.
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